Author Archives: Erin Brown

My daughter just learned to ride her bike. What a euphoric moment to watch a child take off with a skill that will last a lifetime. And it wasn’t easy. Learning to ride means being somewhat comfortable with the possibility that you could fall. That was a fear that took longer than normal for …Read More →

It’s time to commit. It might not seem like curiosity is something that fits with commitment, but it does… especially for educators. During the school year, we have so many things vying for our attention and focus that opportunities for exploring our own questions are limited. Curiosity seems like a luxury during the I’m-so-busy-I-only-inhaled-2-bites-of-my-lunch days. We know. Schedules …Read More →

Does it sometimes feel like you are “going rogue” if you start to question your practice as an educator? Does it feel a bit sneaky or undermining if you ask, “what if ….” or “what about….” or “why couldn’t we try…”? What if educators were all given the license to wonder freely and openly – to ask …Read More →

Curiosity is sometimes thought of as a dreamy head-in-the-clouds state of mind. It can be brushed off as a luxury when time is short and to-do lists are looming. “I’ll get to wondering about stuff again when I’m not so crazy-busy.” But what if curiosity could be a servant to the robust, heavy-lifting, hard parts of our work in …Read More →

Classroom learning labs are changing things. I have never seen a process so impactful. This quiet, unassuming little model for professional learning is powerful beyond words. I’ve been utilizing classroom learning labs for professional learning for the past couple of years. Every single time I facilitate a classroom learning lab, the conversation goes deep about instructional practice …Read More →

This week I had one of those conversations that sticks with you. I was talking with a colleague about the several processes that work in concert as young children grow into readers. Right in the middle of my sentence I was interrupted. “But do you really think teachers can learn all of those processes deeply enough …Read More →

I received a somewhat alarming email response last spring. It was a compliment after I encouraged a teacher. I spoke truth about her craft. She had absolutely changed lives in her school last year. She needed to hear it… to let it sink in. She replied, “You always have a way of making …Read More →

The #PlutoFlyBy created a curiosity explosion for me this summer. I couldn’t get enough. I watched the moment more than once on NASA TV when the teams reported to the Mission Operation Manager (MOM). It is fascinating to see a team receive word that their 10 year old question was answered. Yes, it was a …Read More →

Relational leadership includes a focus on building trust over time in order to deeply impact practice. An important word in that sentence is “time“. But, lately I’ve been curious about this. I’ve held the importance of time and relational leadership as non-negotiables for many years. I’ve always believed that any significant change requires these components. …Read More →

Shelley really started something with our conversation around Leading Curiosity vs. The Guide on the Side – Part 1. I’m curious about the future of public education for our students. Will the American classroom be recognizable in 10-15 years? If not, will that be a bad thing? Where might we choose to proceed with caution?

Have you heard of the “uncanny valley“? It describes the natural reaction of disgust and even primal fear we experience when we interact with a robot that was created to look and move like a real human. Technology is so advanced that robotics engineers can almost convince us that their creations ARE humans… almost. We become uncomfortable because the robots or CGI characters look human, but on second glance we know that they are not quite right. That stirs up discomfort in us. They creep us out to our core and we can’t quite explain it.

But wait… it isn’t logical.

They are only robots and movie characters.

There is no immediate danger.

Nonetheless, this is a very real biological human reaction.

Our humanity says, “This is not good. Be afraid. Be very afraid.”

Are there some details within the speed of our changing educational system that your humanity sometimes questions as well? It is hard to specify why we feel weird at first, yet, there it is – creeping us out to the core.

How does the uncanny valley apply to the conversation about “Leading Curiosity vs. The Guide on the Side”? And isn’t being a “guide on the side” a desireable thing, often juxtaposed with being the “sage on the stage”?

I’m wondering if the “guide on the side” concept (one of a class monitor instead of a professional teacher) as Shelley described in Part 1 feels like the uncanny valley of education to me because it is ALMOST teaching… but not quite. It is ALMOST what our children deserve (differentiation, learning from the best online resources)… but not quite ALL they need (like the humanity of real teachers who lead through relationships, using their craft to innovate, driving inquiry). And this is especially uncanny to me if the “guide” is a virtual teacher or the mode is a prescriptive learning path via technology for the majority of a child’s day. I haven’t seen this yet first hand, but it feels like it is coming.

My humanity as a parent says, “This is not quite right. I’m afraid. I’m very afraid.”

There is nothing wrong inherently with virtual learning, individualized tech-enhanced instruction and the like. It is logical that we would capitalize on virtual teacher collaboration and use our regularly doubling collective information bank that is the vast internet. This is all good practice… until it gets creepy…

…creepy like Asimov’s future computerized teachers in “The Fun They Had” (1964) which he prophesied to be housed in children’s bedrooms, replacing those ancient schools where kids actually went to the same building and learned and played together.

Now right there I just tumbled into the valley. For me, it is simply not okay to think about losing the social, inquisitive, collaborative nature of schools – where the HUMAN local teacher is the expert on students’ needs. Extinguishing that norm would be going too far!

“Tell it to me in Star Wars.” you say?

check out this video…

“I’m scared! Get me outa there!”

“You’re in the valley now. And it’s impossible to get out.” Thank you, “30 Rock”/NBC Universal… you get me. 🙂

Back to reality… how close are we to losing schools as we know it? As David Theune commented in the previous post, where is our noble profession heading?

I wonder how long we, as a society, will value an educational system that relies on the humanity and craft of professionals to best meet our children at their individual points of need? Don’t our kids deserve this? It feels like anything less will be a compromise on the backs of our children and, in turn, a cost to our society.

How might we proceed with caution?

Comment and share your thoughts!

What crosses over into the uncanny valley for you when you think of our brave new world to come?